A few highlights from today'sTiger Woods press conference at the Farmers Insurance Open. Looking as fit as ever, Woods answered questions from the assembled slingers and local TV newshounds.

Q. Slightly different topic here. Phil Mickelson made some comments regarding the higher taxes here in California. You being a resident now of Florida, but from here, any comment or any reaction to what he said?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I moved out of here back in '96 for that reason. I enjoy Florida, but also I understand what he was, I think, trying to say. I think he'll probably explain it better and in a little more detail.

Looks like Jerry West has more lobbying to do on getting Tiger back to Riviera for the Northern Trust Open:

Q. Just wanted to check in on your immediate schedule going forward. What tournaments you are going to be playing in, and specifically with the Northern Trust Open, whether you're playing or not, or still undecided? I wanted to know what your thought process is in whether or not you play that one?

TIGER WOODS: I'm going to play a few tournaments coming up.

Q. Which one next?

TIGER WOODS: I don't know.

Q. What will it take for you to play Rivera again?

TIGER WOODS: I don't know. We'll just see.

Is that a non-denial denial? Or just a denial denial?

On anchoring...

Q. With the player meeting tonight and the anchoring ban being discussed, have you ever kind of reflected on how anchoring has impacted the game in terms of your career, in terms of winning certain events and without naming names, obviously, but do you ever feel you've been deprived of some wins because you putt in a conventional way and there was somebody putting using anchoring?

TIGER WOODS: No. I'm not going to look at it like that. Generally, in the past if guys switch methods, it's usually because they're uneasy, they're a little twitchy or just don't feel comfortable, so they'll switch methods.

But we have a whole other generation that have never experienced having those twitches or having any of those type of problems, and they've grown up with anchoring the putter.

And I think that's what Mike was trying to explain when he was trying to implement this new rule is that we're getting a whole 'nother generation that have only putted with anchoring the putter, and they've just learned that one method. He believes every club should actually swing, and I agree with that.

After talking about his memories of the unforgettable 2008 U.S. Open, he was asked about Torrey and another Open. I'm not sure if he knows it's off the USGA's radar.

Q. Your thoughts on the U.S. Open ever coming back to Torrey, and are you in favor of that?

TIGER WOODS: Absolutely, absolutely. I think they've proven that they can host a great U.S. Open here. We, as players, play here each and every year, and we love the golf course. It's hard.

And I think the USGA is trying to make a concerted effort ever since '02 going to Bethpage for the first time and big public venues. This is the west coast version. And it was amazing. The turnout, the fans, the support, the crowds, I mean, it was just a great atmosphere.

I think with having the other golf course right here for parking and all that, I think certainly I think Torrey Pines and everyone here involved in it really made this tournament special, and I think the USGA will definitely come back.

Pssst...that's a negative!

On a serious note, I'm still trying to figure out how to word this question of Tiger: do you want to see the U.S. Open return here one more time before you are, uh, uh,

Tiger is not going to play 4 in a row. He is going to play both WGC's, so it'd be in between Riviera and Honda. He lives 20 minutes from Honda.

And to all those who say he owes something to the LA Open, most sponsors would be very happy if a sponsor exemption came back for nearly a decade after, or returned the sort of investment they got from having Tiger in the field. Oh and passt it's a different sponsor.

(now can we please, please, please move on from Tiger and Riviera it' a dead issue)

Tiger admitted that he moved away from California to Florida for the tax reasons. If anyone bothers to pay attention, that is quite an endorsement of what Phil is talking about and should take some heat off.

What tournaments you are going to be playing in, and specifically with the Northern Trust Open, whether you're playing or not, or still undecided? I wanted to know what your thought process is in whether or not you play that one?

TIGER WOODS: I'm going to play a few tournaments coming up.

Q. Which one next?

TIGER WOODS: I don't know.

Q. What will it take for you to play Rivera again?

TIGER WOODS: I don't know. We'll just see.

Is that a non-denial denial? Or just a denial denial?_______________________

Let ME tell you what it is: it's a Total Dick Move. First, it's a complete and utter lie. Woods DOESN'T KNOW the next event on his schedule? Horsecrap. You and I both know that TW plans his schedule for the year and virtually without exception he's sticking to it. You don't want to play in your hometown of Los Angeles, the same place you received a sponsor's exemption at the age of 16? Fine. But why not have the balls to say so?

Why Woodhead continues with the great mystery of his upcoming schedule is simply beyond me. Announcing several weeks in advance would only allow sponsors to sell more tickets, writers to create more storylines and merely help promote the PGA Tour.

But no: the once-in-control Tiger Woods simply hasn't the courtesy to do the decent thing. I'm shocked. Shocked!

Phil is going to have a tough time selling his Calif mansion for top dollar. Who is going to move there under the state's tax/budget situation? He will manage just fine, but couldn't resist the need to lash out on his way out the door.

Ben, I think Tiger did Riviera a favor by not commenting on it. Had he done so then the headlines would be "TIGER WOODS NEVER PLAYING RIVIERA AGAIN" and they'd have sliced it and diced it right up until tournament time and beat the hell out of it some more and you know...

...how would that have helped the situation? If he leaves it open ended at least there's a tiny sliver of hope for the future.

@smacking I contribute to another blog on another site (and it's not a pseudonym, just my name)

@FW I never said you couldn't comment on it, I said it's a dead issue. Why he doesn't play makes sense, lots of guys don't play tournaments that they theoretically "owe" more to than Tiger to Northern Trust. The constant hocking up of the issue is boring

@BenS a)Tiger committed to Torey a couple weeks in advance. I have no inside info on this, but I expect he'll commit to both WGC's and Honda shortly after Torrey. But if he discusses his upcoming schedule in a pre-tourn press conf it creates a news cycle about those other tournaments, probably not what Farmers and Torrey want.

I've always thought that Tiger's lack of commitment helped certain events by creating the public perception that he *might* play. Behind the scenes, organizers must know the truth. But, doesn't a public 'maybe' help more than 'no' or 'never'?

Up here in Canada (eh), it's like this - you can get a ticket for the Canadian Open at any time, including the day of the event. It'll never sell out UNLESS Tiger commits. Then, there's no way in hell you can get a ticket. So, you would have been better off buying in advance just in case he did commit at a later time. If he says no publicly, that game is over as far as advance ticket sales are concerned. Of course, this was true a few years ago when there was still some chance that he might show up.

@BenS of course he could have just committed to everything through the masters when he committed to Torrey, and I'm sure he basically knows his schedule. I think Tiger is trying for a middle ground between committing at the last second which he used to do and committing super early & creating an issue if he decides to not play (which happened his rookie yr). There really is only one guy who makes news when he commits, and who people demand refunds if they don't show up

Ala ''Dumb and Dumber''.....''There's a one in a million chance.......''' ''So you're saying I have a chance!!!!'' LA residents do their best Jim Carrie, ya think? I don't know- TW has played that games so many times, even the East LA non golfing crowd gets it. Of course the 5000 new residents from south of CA may not know.

Phil is doing what just about all of us are thinking. Putting into words why he wants to get out of this overtaxed state. I dont blame him. Hopefully he leaves soon so that the state of California cannot get any of his money to pay for the illegals, massive amounts of govt programs, crappy roads, and other stuff.

Hey JSP, are those marijuana dispensaries self-funding? HEY! There's an idea!! All Moonbeam needs to do is find a way to tax all the exported Mendocino Beano and Camarillo Brillo and VOILA -- budget balanced!!

1) What is the real reason Tiger doesn't play the LA Open? Doesn't like the course, sponsor, greens, etc??2) Why won't the USGA go back to Torrey Pines? I realize its not the most architecturally interesting course out there (and Southern Hills or Erin Hills is??) but prime time TV, eye candy views, public, etc....seems like a good fit to me.

Who cares where Phil lives to evade taxes....there is a global cottage industry to advise uber rich people where to live in an effort to evade taxes....KPMG knows the drill. I actually like Phil, but getting sympathy for someone worth hundreds of millions is sort of a joke.

As for the USGA and municipal courses, I believe they (the USGA) are taking a MUCH more cautious approach as to which municipalities they do business with going forward. This is driven by the situation that developed at Bethpage where NYS-AG Andrew Cuomo stuck his nose in and forced the USGA to honor all Thurs-Sun tickets for the Monday finish, it is my understanding they only wanted to honor the Sunday tickets. I'm told this really pissed them off. States at the top of the leaderboard for aberrant political/municipal behaviour would have to be New York and California.

I think sunDevil's point above about not wanting to go to courses that host a yearly PGA Tour stop is primary, but also believe a healthy fear of grandstanding politicians factors in as well.

My guess is Tiger doesn't play LA because of his track record (his best finish was when they played it at Valencia in 1998)...he is a real "horses for courses" type of player, and 0-9, or is it 0-10 mean that the next time we will see Tiger at Riviera is if the PGA plays there again!

So someone who is better at tabulating could create a very interesting post, if they tab up all the limited field events he counts as wins, the Grand Slams, the 18 player Chevron fields, and let's see how many that is--- and then the ''horses for courses wins--- the Memorials, the Torrey Pines, the Florida repeats, and tab that up, and I wonder how many are left as one hit wonders.....

It seems pretty evident that the LA Open doesn't fit into the schedule. As for what his 2013 schedule will be, if you go to pgatour.com and click on Tiger's player profile and search his last six or seven full seasons, it's pretty easy to discern where he will play. No need to get all worked up about it...it is what it is.